OK, first line: "Kardon stood at the back of the tavern, surveying the night's clientele, and smiled with a brutal satisfaction."

Shinn's writing is clunky and cliched, and she cannot seem to handle nuance or subtlety. After a few chapters of reading about a mismatched band of adventurers out to save "Gillengaria" from "clouds of unrest," I gave up on the book. It's mediocre, and there are so many better things to do with my time. ( )

It’s been a while since I read a Shinn book; this one had a lot of plot and a subsidiary romance between a mystic—a person with magical powers, here to control fire—and a King’s Rider, a soldier assigned to guard her. Senneth is a mysterious emissary from the king, sent to poke around the country and figure out whether the king is in danger; along with Rider Tayse, she assembles certain other companions and they investigate the religious, anti-mystic fervor sweeping half the country. I quite enjoyed it. ( )

Mystic and Rider is an outstanding fantasy with a strong romantic subplot. The worldbuilding and the political intrigue is complex and nuanced without ever being boring. The story itself is very character driven; the camaraderie and relationships between the characters are the major highlight. Overall, it’s very well done. I would be interested to read more in this series, especially if we get to see more of Senneth and Tayse. This novel is clearly just the first installment in a broader story arc. ( )

Wikipedia in English

Gillengaria seethes with unrest. In the south, hostility toward magic and its users has risen to a dangerous level, though King Baryn has ordered that such mystics are to be tolerated. It is whispered that he issued the decree because his new wife used her magic powers to ensnare him…

The King knows there are those in the noble Twelve Houses who could use this growing dissent to overthrow him. So he dispatches the mystic Senneth to assess the threat throughout the realm. Accompanying her is a motley band of magic-users and warriors including Tayse, first among the King’s Riders—who holds a hard view of mystics in general, and Senneth in particular.

But as the unlikely allies venture farther into the south, they will face death in a land under the sway of a fanatical cult that would purge Gillengaria of all magic users. And they will come to realize that their only hope of survival lies in standing together…